NENPA Awards

The New England Newspaper and Press Association Awards have come and gone and this year, I didn't win any. Frankly, it shouldn't be that surprising since I switched jobs a few months before the entry period ended.
When I was asked to recommend some potential entries, there were only a few stories I thought might be worthy. At the time when I was looking at the entry dates, I realized that during the nine month period of the awards that I would be eligible, I worked without a reporter for almost four of those months. And during some of those months - nine weeks to be exact - I was doing one and a half papers by myself and two websites - yikes. How did I do it? I have no clue. But, in other words, I was not working in the best conditions to be doing your best work, which happens in this business sometimes.
NENPA also eliminated the election category this year, which I won last year and Belmont has won in previous years, I believe. Elections are important because you have a responsibility to voters. It's important to make the coverage matter. I don't know the logic of removing the coverage award - maybe the org doesn't think it is as important as it once was.
I like to win awards but I prefer to do the quality work that makes you eligible to win the awards. That's just as important; in fact, it's more important. 
Anyhow, congratulations to all my friends who won this year, including some former members of my Lexington crew that won a bunch. Hats off to you folks. :-)